Tropical Queensland

It has been a few days since I last published our blog. Since then we  flew to Cairns last Saturday.  We arrived in pouring rain. The plane unloaded on the run way so we got soaked walking into the airport. The luggage came and it was wet all the way through the suitcase. 

Then we went to pick up our Alamo rental and no one had a record of the reservation even though I had the booking number. The problem is Alamo goes through one of the other big car rental agencies. So we had to book another car at a higher price. I hope we have not been charged twice. 

Even though we have the world's best travel agent we still did not get the

 car we booked.

We got to our studio apartment and found it to be very nice, a little small but the complex has three good pools and is close to everything.  We booked this through Global Resorts Network and are happy with the place. If you want more information about this please visit Surf Sand and Sea.

The next day we went for a drive until we found that the wind was picking up and a cyclone was off shore and we were not sure where it would hit land. One lady told us to go get batteries, water, candles etc. So off to the mall where no 

one was buying these things. They were just shopping and staying out of the rain. Anyway we got no wind and very little rain. 

The cyclone went in about 400 km south of us and flooded everything  and cut the road to Brisbane.

Our first big day out was up to the Atherton Tablelands. The pictures of the valley, curtain fig tree, flowers and Barron water falls are all from that day trip. 

We had a very nice day with some sunny periods but when we reached the Barron Falls we got caught in a down pour.

The next day was a working day. We drove north up the coast on a very scenic highway that follows the sea. We stopped at two very good golf courses where we hope to offer a Cairns add on feature for next year. On Sea Temple Golf Course they took us on a tour of the links course in a power cart. While we toured the course we spent some time looking for one of the three big man eating crocodiles that live in the ponds on the course. So far, no golfer, has been eaten. We did not see them but the signs are all over the course reminding you not to go near the ponds.

We took our time and checked out the northern beaches and                 

the scenic look outs and visited a very expensive beach lodge. This lodge had bungalows that go for $1150 a night for the cabin, twin share, with all meals and drinks. Richard Branson was a guest there a short time ago.

Then on to Port Douglas which is very, very nice. It is maybe the Noosa of the north. Lots of accommodation, a good shopping street and a large marina.

Cairns is an OK city but it does not have a beach and nothing really outstanding. It is easy to walk around and it has a lot of shops that sell tee shirts and other junk for the tourists. 

Most of the tourists are from Asia as this time of the year  is the wet season so it is their off season for Australians. One indicator that this is a big tourist town is most of the restaurants have

 crocodile and kangaroo on the menus. But as my good mate George says when you have enough Roo you can always have spaghetti.

Today, Wednesday, we headed north about 150 km to the Daintree Wilderness and Cape Tribulation. This takes us through some of the oldest rain forests in the world. And what would a rain forest be with out some rain. We got soaked after we got off the river and had to run through the torrent

 to the shelter. Off course we had rain ponchos and an umbrella but why take it on the boat since it had a roof.

We only saw one female croc on the river bank but they said there were  plenty of them and some up to five metres long.

They are saying that another cyclone is forming off shores and we may get more rain and wind. We can just sit and hope it passes by. These are only category one cyclones so far but contain a lot of rain.